Wisdom Literature

The international genre of instruction: how to live well, speak prudently, honour parents and fear the gods.

Core Themes

• Experience distilled into maxims — the father's instruction to the son is the genre's typical voice.
• Order defended: the wise prosper, fools suffer, and heaven watches the scales.

Notable Examples

• Egypt's Instruction of Ptahhotep and Amenemope, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, the Babylonian Counsels of Wisdom.
• The Analects and the Hávamál carry the same voice into China and the North.

Related Concepts & Sources

Sacred Knowledge, Moral Order, Analects